A Tree Planted By Streams of Water

Psalm 1:1-6

Key Verse 1:3

In this passage we can learn that those who live according to what the Bible says will be prosperous.

[Our ministry is called the “University ‘Bible’ Fellowship”; the word “Bible” indicates that we are going to be a Bible based ministry. This generation is increasingly wicked; it comes with all sorts of wicked winds of trends and lifestyles. To keep the flock of God from being drifted in the wicked rivers, or blown away by the wicked and adulterous winds of this world, we would like to study Psalm 1 as the “direction” of this year. We then would like to study the book of Hebrews to learn of the holy faith in the Lord God with a prayer that all of us would deeply take root in the Lord, who in turn will make us prosperous in the days to come.]

1. Read verse 1 and think about the way the sentence is structured. What word, or words, is emphasized? What do the wicked, sinners, and mockers do? Why do they do this? (Think about what the word "blessed" means.) Yet why should one "not" follow in their footsteps?  

** Special emphasis is on the word “Blessed”, and then on the word “not”. The intention of the Holy Spirit in organizing the sentence structure this way (see how the word “Blessed” is coming up front) in order to emphasize what is “NOT” a blessed way of life. This is to help people not be deceived. 

The point for us to learn here is that the life of unbelief, the life that departs from what the Bible says (such as Moses’ Ten Commandments) is a “cursed” life, not a blessed life. There is no lasting future for those who live apart from what the Bible says. 

** Obviously they do what they do all in pursuit of “happiness”. 

** Their way (or ways) is not the way of a blessed life. The word “blessed” denotes true happiness that comes with the life that is on the level of God [i.e., the life in God’s kingdom]. 

2. Read verse 2. Think about the expression "...and on his law he meditates day and night." What does the word "meditate" mean? How can one meditate on the word of God "day and night"?  

** Meditate – to engage in mental exercise to reach a heightened level of spiritual awareness; just like man’s body requires exercise (such as training muscles in workouts at a gym or practicing sports like playing tennis at a tennis court) so also our minds need to exercise in such a way that we would be spiritually nurtured and stay strong. 

** When one “delights” in the law of the Lord, one can do it “day and night”. The key is to discover the joy and gratification found in the word of God; once one tastes the joy and deep satisfaction coupled with the sense of true happiness and exhilaration, he ends up meditating on the law of the Lord day and night. This is like a man who is addicted to some sort of drugs or other addictive substances. The difference is that God’s word never hurts man; it never makes man enslaved; God’s word always liberates man from all that hold man in bondage to what is limited; God’s word uplifts man from the mires of this physical world. God’s word then inspires man to stand above the creation, so as man is connected with the Lord the Lord would supply him with new life constantly, so that the man would remain victorious in all he does. 

3. Read verse 3. What does "planted" mean? What does "streams of water" stand for? Think about: a) a tree that "yields its fruit in season"; b) "whose leaf does not wither"; and c) "whatever he does prospers". What do these expressions tell us about the way of a "blessed" life? 

** The word “planted” means “fixed” in one place or “rooted” in one location. It stands in contrast with those who are not committed to the word of God. Consider how the wicked, sinners, and mockers are always “vexatious”; the word “plant” involves a planter making a “conscious” effort; just like a farmer makes all sorts of conscious efforts to plant a tree (selecting the right soil, digging the soil to the right depth etc.), so also we need make conscious efforts to plant ourselves by the streams of the word of God by meditating on the word of God day and night. 

** This expression denotes the Spirit of God that comes to man’s life through the workings of the Word of God. As one accepts God’s word and lives according to it, the word of God which is God-breathed helps that person to be filled with the Spirit of God. 

** 1) It makes us to be fruitful (bearing good fruit, internally and externally)

2) It takes time for us to bear fruit (as suggested in the phrase ‘in season’). So we need to remain in the word of God all the time. Then naturally in due course of time the Lord enables us to bear good fruit. 

3) “whose leaf does not wither” – this expression tells us that our environment is not the determining factor; even during the difficult times such as spiritual drought or people in this world getting increasingly wicked or in times of economic or political difficulties, still that person stays green (meaning full of life, having great zeal, filled with the Spirit of love and power). 

4) “Whatever he does prospers” – this expression indicates that God’s word has all the principles (secrets if you will) for getting all things done efficiently and productively so that one would become prosperous in all one does. The word “whatever” means whatever, touching upon all aspects of one’s existence (spiritually and physically). He can eat well, sleep well, and do all things well. He also can be prosperous in his relationship with his neighbors such as his wife, parents or children, not just in family relationships but in other relationships such as employment relationships, his relationship with fellow coworkers in the church. They also go out, teach the Bible lead people to Jesus and bear fruit, making disciples. 

Read verse 4. Why "not" so the wicked? Why is chaff blown away by the wind? What does the "wind" signify?

** The answer is found in who the wicked, sinners, and mockers are. The wicked denotes the unbelieving; the sinners are those who commit sins habitually, and thereby remain overpowered and then enslaved by the power of sin; the mockers are worst, for they laugh at and make fun of those who live by the word of God. 

These three categories of people have one thing in common: they do not have the word of God in them, much less live by it. Naturally they are not blessed, for the word of God is the source of blessing and prosperity. Simply stated the Bible is the framework for the life of prosperity. But these people go against the teachings of the Bible; naturally they are condemned to be shut out of the store houses of God’s blessings. 

** Wind signifies all sorts of new trends, styles, fashions, of this world.

5. Read verse 5. This passage begins with the word "Therefore." What does "the judgment" refer to? What does "the assembly of the righteous" mean? What does “the wicked will not stand" [in the judgment nor in the assembly of the righteous] mean? Why will they "not" be able to stand in the judgment? Why is this a problem?

** It refers to the final Day of Judgment. This answer is alluded to because the word “therefore” refers us back to the previous passage where two ways of life, that is, the way of a man who obeys God’s word and the way of a man who disregards and therefore disobeys God’s word, are compared with one another. So at the end of one’s life’s journey, both of them will have to face the outcome: either to stand or to fail in the judgment. 

** “The assembly of the righteous” refers to the joyful fellowship of the saved in the heavenly realms. This joyful life begins here on earth while we are still in a body. Cf. Heb 12. 

** “Stand” has the meaning of “endure” or “find a seat”. In the kingdom of God, we are all called to stand in worship of the Lord God. The word “stand” is also indicative of the resurrected life, for the upright who will all be raised to put on a resurrected body will all stand up to praise the name of God the Father who sent Jesus Christ the Savior. 

Essentially this expression means that the unrighteous will be shut out of the presence of God and the assembly of all the righteous. 

** They will find themselves extremely uncomfortable there. The wicked, the sinners, and the mockers cannot bear the glory of the Lord and that of the holy assembly. We see the same examples of the unclean demons shrieking as Jesus spoke the holy word of God. As soon as Jesus allowed, the demons came out of the man in the synagogue and ran away. 

** The only place they are going to end up in is the life that is eternally shut out of the presence of God. The Bible calls this place “the fiery lake of burning sulfur” which is what the absence of God is all about. 

Read verse 6. How is verse 5 related with the previous verse(s)? What does it mean to say, "the Lord watches over 'the way' [of the righteous]"? What does “the way of the wicked that will perish” mean? 

** All it means is that the Lord enforces his principles (which are all in the Bible), making it sure that those who obey the word of God would be blessed, and that those who do not would be shut out of his blessings. 

** It means the way of the wicked leads man to eternal condemnation. 

The end

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